Sunday, March 31, 2019

The Egg caused it all- Stories from Sirohi

With introduction of eggs into the breakfast in the school, 29 students got dropped out of the school. Of 29 students, there are many brilliant students who love attending school and studying with friends.

“Many of us went to houses and explained to the parents. We’re not forcing on anyone to eat anything. We’ve milk who do not want to eat eggs. It’s up to Parent’s choice to see what kind of food they want to provide to their children,” says the teacher.

“Few parents saw it as a danger and didn’t send their kids to school. 8 kids were sent to school after their parents  listened to the teachers.”
Stories from Sirohi


Imagine, because of one deeply rooted notion,  “impurity by eating certain food”, the child is deprived of a better future. The kid can’t go to school, play with his friends, sing songs in the music class, instead he had to go to a farm along with his father to work in fields.

Let’s dream of a better future.

Documentary on P.V. Narasimha Rao by Sravani & Srikar



Sravani and Srikar made this documentary on PV Narasimha Rao.  Learning is different from experiential learning. Experiential learning gives you a deep sense of education, values, work and a lot more.


Thanks, Vijay for introducing Sravani. I remember meeting Sravani and was in awe of her thought process. She was calm, and assertive on things she wanted to learn and do. 

We went on for a conversation and had a great time talking about what we love to do over a walk. 

She seemed the right person to work with. Through TEDx, we met and shared our passion and worked along fuelling each other with conversations.

Time sailed and couldn’t get a chance to stay in touch with her. Met her again at New Delhi during January. Surprised to see each other after a long time at an unexpected place, Andhra Bhavan. Both of us talked about what’s happening in our lives.

Then she shared about the Documentary movie she’s working on PV Narasimha. 

She was at Delhi to take a few interviews.

Sravani wishes to live a life by earning it. 

"Renny, In "Saving Private Ryan, Miller says, 'Earn this, earn it' I want to earn a living that's worth life to me." 

Her profound words were a surprise to me. After college, she tried for YIF course and shet got it. 

Despite being selected for Young India Fellowship she rejected the admission to finish the documentary.

On being asked what made her do that, She said, “I wanted to experience the whole process of knowing PV Narasimha Rao.

Experiential Learning. Wah. Yeah, there’s learning and experiential learning. Experiential learning puts you in a situation for effective learning. The kind of learning that helps for deep understanding. Sravani chose experiential learning over classroom education. I’m glad she took it up and I’m delighted to learn a lot from her experience.

To know how it all started, She said, “I read a book ‘Half Lion’ on PV Narasimha Rao by Vinay Sitapati. There is no good book on Narasimha Rao until Vinay wrote one. He interviewed 100 people to write that book.

Author Vinay Sitapati, lived PV’s life taking a lot of information from every source possible. He’s been to villages PV grew up. Viewing PV through Vinay Sitapati words made me know PV more.”

Documentary on PV Narasimha Rao

Not through learning but through experiential learning. It triggered her to make a documentary. In her own words, “I wanted to learn everything: Polity, economy, history not by reading but by reliving a life like an author did. I interviewed RBI governers, finance ministers, bureaucrats, CEOs of media channels, and many more”


I’m sure the whole experience helped Sravani to have a great perspective on various things. Besides learning various things, she also had a great chance to explore documentary filmmaking, story writing, narration and a lot more. I can’t wait to learn a lot from Sravani and also Srikar through in-person conversation.


I wish this documentary and also her experiential learning inspires others to find their own ways to learn a lot of things in life.

The trailer of the documentary



Cheers Sravani & Srikar. God bless you both.  


Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Gratitude Tales- Work Place

Right on my last day at the office, I was wishing that I meet my HR who helped me get the role I had. And I met her.  

During my training, I was unsure of any plans and I walked into the HR room hoping for some help. Indeed I got good mentoring from my HR. 

I can't imagine if I hadn't walked into that room, spoke to HR & spent a good time learning how the organization works. 

I had the best time in my first two years of work at MNC. 

Deep Work- Nice Link

The 80-20 Rule - Stories from Sirohi

It's important to know what we are good at and what we are yet to improve.
And it's equally important to know how to prioritize what.

One of the teachers mentioned it's quite important to see the good rather than the bad. "Yes, we've to acknowledge but we also need to look at the things that can be done." he mentioned.

In the field, teachers crib about drop out rate. On being asked about the percentage, a teacher said,  "80% of children are visiting and only 20 % are dropping out." 

Emphasize on 80% of them to increase their learning level but, not to cringe  on the 20% could be one way to see the situation.

We should spend 80% time on what can be improved with a good number and 20% the of time on what can be improved with the less number. 

May be we need to give 80 % efforts on what we're good at and 20% on what to improve.

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Ghee Positive- Stories from Sirohi

It's been 3 days and I'm sure I'd have consumed a pet bottle of ghee. Be it breakfast, be it lunch, there's ghee on all the dishes. Spare the poor Chaach( buttermilk), ghee is not put in it. It's quite a good experience to eat a lot of ghee and butter all day. Now, it's time to shed it out by a run. 

God bless Sirohi.

Monday, March 25, 2019

My First Days in Schools.

First days are the most memorable days for, all my imaginations will be put to comparison by getting into the reality. I remember my first days at various schools.

Hanamkonda. When Dad said that we're moving to a new place called Hanmakonda. I was 7 years old and imagined a long road with a  huge mountain at the sight. Wondered where I could place Hanuman in the city, but all I could imagine was a  straight road with a lot of buildings aside and a  huge mountain at the front.

We reached Hanmakonda and nothing was on par with my imagination. The lanes seemed sparse, there is less hustle bustle. It was calm. I stayed at guest's house for two days and was taken to school. I remember the journey in some uncle's car to my then new school. Adarsha High School.

The Wall Clock and the admin officer's question to dad are still vivid memories. I looked at them and escaped from the seat and walked behind the room. There was a spacious ground  with nothing to play. Back then, slide and few swings were the huge wants. Never got one in Adarsha High School.  There was never a matter of liking and disliking. I enjoyed all the new things in life.

Jangaon.

After staying for 3 years at Hanmakonda, we moved to Jangaon. Suhas and Smruthi left a year before us. I was wondering what kind of home we'll get into. That was the first time, my brother was not staying with us. He was put in Hostel for his 10th in St. Gabriel's school.

Srinivas uncle took us to St.Paul's school. Admission was never an easy one. My sister and myself wrote the exam. My sister performed well. I remember father saying that, the girl is good. The boy needs more focus on studies. I said, "I'll study and show him" I was never a good student though.
I remember the buzz that all parents made on the first day. I liked the school for it's spacious grounds and huge buildings. Missionary schools are the best for their school grounds and sparse areas. 

Nellore

For the first time, I was getting away from my parents. I don't remember a thing except my walk into the admin building. It's all haze to recollect the first day memories.

Kadapa
Don't remember a damn.

Chittoor
My P.E.T sir got my application form. We went to my School's correspondent's house.  I was very sure of this place and school. After the visit to Vijay sir's house, we got into school and got through application form.

Gowtam Model School

I wrote an exam and didn't do well in Hindi. Sitting outside the principal's room and in a corridor, Dad said, "See because of one subject, now they're thinking twice to give us seat. Shouldn't have given them such chance to point out." He told. He was serious but not frightening. I felt bad a that moment but blamed my 9th Class Hindi teacher for not teaching me well. 


Stories from Sirohi

I'm happy to meet various people from diverse backgrounds. I met Dyu from Orissa & Kaveri from Chennai. We shared a lot of stories. Dyu has travelled all around India on the bike. He traveled extensively knowing a lot of things about so many places.  Kaveri hails from south India, has quite a good experience at NGOs and shared the outlook of them.

Met Mahinder Sharma, Hindi Teacher whose stories on the script, language, language extinction are amazing.
Sirohi


He shared how Devanagari Script got originated from Brahmi Script. There's a lot of history that I'm unaware of. Talking about linguistics, he also shared how there are sections in the society who keeps making a noise creating a lot of false accusations so that, the truth can never be discovered.





Quote of the hour




"Our best thoughts come from others." 
                                                                                                                   

                                              -  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday, March 18, 2019

Taramani- Movie

The narration is at it's best. There's a subtlety in depicting the inner conflict of the protagonist. How Prabhu is insecure about his partner all throughout the movie. Andreah  has a strong character in the movie and I loved her performance. This movie depicted the present society. It's a sort of reflection and a question to change the thought process.

Pyaasa- Movie

Srikanth told me about this movie during intermediate. I've listened to the songs a couple of times and never managed to watch the movie fully.   This is a classic for a reason. Vijay, a poet struggles to find a life in a cruel society. His love ditches him for the money, brothers do not take him in and struggles to find food as he is jobless.

There's always a person who believes in. And there's Gulab for Vijay.  The rest is about how Vijay makes his way in the cruel world.  The songs are gems.

Informing vs Sharing

It's easy to inform people on social media. It helps to reach out to a wider audience. But there's a high chance of turning compulsive on social media.

This is one experiment I made.  Soon after I got selected for a fellowship. I did not inform it on social media. I shared in person with close friends who'd be happy for me.

I shared it with my gang and a few friends. Everyone was quite happy for me. I was contended by their reactions. Is it narcissticity? I don't know.

We share it on the media with sheer expectations of all these and everything from social media seem shallow as I cannot perceive them in the way they react.

Sharing with people in person helped me to contend. There were times, where I put something on social media and go crazy looking at the numbers. Instead of being happy, I was enjoying the buzz but, not for a long time.



But as far as this, I shared it with friends. It lead to hearty conversations and recalled a lot of memories. There was a bond I could create and I suppose this is how it was previously.

Am I gonna anyway put it on the social media?. Yes, I"m gonna put it but, I'm not gonna share it. I'm gonna put it with the intention of informing all the friends.

Sharing experiences and memories immediately on social media brings a compulsive pattern seeking happy memories. 

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Ram Gratitude Tales

 Though I work on management and Ram on Technical grounds, we hit off well and get caught up in conversations really well. 

It's a rarity to see him coming to the office. And once, he even forgot which floor our zone was in. Ram is a traveler who has a love for nature and the mountains. His experiences are innumerable and the perspectives he shares through his travel tales are inspiring and worth learning. 

It's the same yet we never took the time to enjoy it.

Ram shared how he cried watching a sunrise. Amidst a peak over the trek, he saw the sunrise and wept over the time enjoying the whole experience. Watching the sunrise, sunset, moon in the night is my favorite past time and I easily agree on it.. 

It's a surreal experience. I recall those times, as I type this blog now. Away from everything, spending time at nature is the most surreal thing one can do. 

Ram also shared how he witnessed the untamed nature that's quite powerful and mightier than anything in this world. He once went to a homestay which is just by the river, covered by the mountains.



In the middle of the mountains, there's a plain land and a river passing by. Just to the river, there's a homestay and ram spent a night when it struck thunders. 

"Abhinay, The thunders, and sounds frightened. The sight of those thunders amidst the mountains and the water reminded me of how mighty nature is. "

Ram is a person who finds comfort in the needs. At the prime time of earning a lot and accumulating a lot of wealth, he talks about humility, respect, and gratitude. 

Ram once visited India China Border. He was on a bus over the border. He was talking on a phone. An army person overheard and joined for a conversation, asking if he's a Telugu speaking person. 
The army person was glad to find a homie. They caught up in a conversation and listened to all his works and present situations at that place. 

"All I could do was hug him and respect him through my wish. Namasthe."

And I shared the pickles I got.  I take pickles wherever I go. To share with the homestay people and people whom I meet. 

To travel is to learn their culture also na. We try to find out their food and try to give out our food as well. 



Quote of the hour

"You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn’t flying a thousand miles an hour or a million or flying at the speed of the light. Because any number is a limit and perfection doesn’t have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             J.L.Seagull               

Food. Walks and conversations- Gratitude Tales


Nikita saved me from all the awkward group lunches at the workplace. 


After Azith left, I was alone in the campus enjoying my lunches until I joined Nikita in August.

Had a difficult time to find a person who welcomes random conversations. And also a person who's a good listener.  

She's nothing of what I saw her first time. She seemed calm, hardly spoken and very shy. And if someone asks me about her now, I'd tell, "Anything but an introvert."

Sometimes about ILP days, sometimes about my adventures I share anything and everything under the sun. Nikita affirms quietly a lot on anything she has interest in.  She shares stories that are quite dimensional at every perspective. She joined me whenever I visit ToastMasters. And the first person to hear about my book talks is Nikita. Post talk, I share the feedback, in person comments with her. Most of the time, I keep jumping and sharing how happy & jobless I'm. 

I remember her for all the food, walks and all the conversations. She was gracious enough to join me every time I call her as I was very inconsistent at going to the office.

I may never meet her for such lunches from now on. Lunches with her were something I always looked up for to share all my adventures and also to seek her encouragement on the most random things. I'm grateful for one such encouragement. 
Nikita & I 

She called up on my birthday and asked if I was heading to the office, I haven't decided then. 

She sounded cheerful saying, "You better do something good & interesting." And my good thing was to hitchhike. And I hitchhiked to Bidar, just like that. Thanks, Nikita for those words. If not for the call, I'd have never hitchhiked to Bidar.  

I cherish the whole time spent with Nikita.  For all the food, walks and the conversations. I'm grateful for all the time. 

Friday, March 15, 2019

Walks on the deserted roads

It's a blessing indeed to be away from the noise and the traffic. I took a walk at RIMS college which sparsed to a lot of acres. I looked up at the sky and spotted a few stars. It's been a long time since I found a moon amidst some stars. Thanks to pollution, I could never find any in the city. Here, in the most silent place, I spent the time watching the moon and the stars. 


The deserted road. 



Sarkar- A.R.Murugudas

Political Drama movies are less interesting these days. Learning how things work in the real world, I'm unable to watch the liberty these visual storytellers are taking to make a watchable movie. I'm not talking about the songs that are mandatory but, the romance a hero does amidst a serious situation. Be it the fights. Agreed that it's cinema. It's just that I'm unable to watch it as I'm getting to know how serious the world is in reality and how distracting the other things in the movie are.





Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Minimalism 1.0

I freaked out looking at all the stuff I packed before I move to Rajasthan. I have a lot of clothes and a lot of books. Books are an exception but I wonder how I ended up with a pile of clothes that I never imagined, I have.

I decided to turn minimalistic for a year. During the stay at Rajasthan, I try to be minimal in everything I use, I have. I'm gonna be mindful of things I carry and will not keep buying things.

Before I wanted to try this out, I read a few articles and websites on minimalism. This website seems helpful. https://www.theminimalists.com/

But the content is overwhelming as I sit to read all at once.

I decided I'll take only a few books.  8 books. It's important I chose the books wisely. And also, I'm gonna carry all the drafts of my novel.

Besides this stuff, I'm going to carry clothes. Let me see what I end up carrying after a year. 

Hopefully nothing but, books. 

Monday, March 11, 2019

Quote of the hour

"Your life is what you pay attention to,” she said. “If you want to spend it on video games or Twitter, that’s your business. But it should be a conscious choice.”
- Catherine,

Excerpts of Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire

'Winston wanted to hand over power gradually to democratic provinces and Indian princedoms, in localized groups, while retaining British jurisdiction at the center. When all the bits and pieces were under Indian control, the British could bow out discreetly- leaving Indians to deal with the civil war that would almost certainly be left behind.'

'Americans were ever more concerned about the outward creep of communism from Russia and China... British Intelligence service reported the first clear case of direct financial aid passing from the soviets to the communist party in India.'


'Gandhi was never a supporter of Partitioned India. In April, Jinnah and Gandhi Signed an appeal for a time, suggested by Mountbatten. Gandhi requested Mountbatten to hand over full control of unpartitioned India to the interim government that would be mean handing over the reign to the congress and ignoring the Muslin league.


Friday, March 8, 2019

Corporate Lessons - The little things

Few words. Few conversations. Because of a few little things, my first job was a memorable one.

Never once, I lost hope in goodness. Even though the system was as rigid as it was in front of my eyes. I never lost hope.

I knocked on the door of HR to seek her advice. If not I had that conversation  I can't imagine what next step I'd take.

Further the training, Aravind offered me a chance for project management operations role. I rejected all the calls from other projects and there I was thinking before I said Yes to Aravind's offer.

I joined as a PMO Lead and learned the business and also the process.

Grateful for the little things that led me to where I'm

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Corporate Kahaani- Midweek Blues

Gone are the times I saw my friend Ria cribbing about Monday mornings. Quite surprised by her silence, I asked what's cooking. 

"Midweek Blues Renny" she said. 
Monday mornings was the only one morning, I had to comfort her with a lot of lies and hope for a better weekend which she craves for. No clue why people crave for the weekends when they have all the week to enjoy and have fun.

"Can you drink all night and be passed without a worry of waking up for a day?" said Ria

"Why do you need to do that?" I retorted.

"Because that's what the fun means. Live without a worry. Party without a reason."

I still couldn't get why she wanted to party.

"What's with the midweek Blues now Lady?"

I can't get along till Friday. Unable to pass this week!

"You're just over expecting a lot for this Friday. You are utterly broke and gonna cry at the end"
.
You don't need to tell me that now. Let me bother about it then.

" Exactly, why do you hate this day when you want to enjoy the Friday. Let the day come, you can enjoy."

"But I hate this day."

Monday's were a break from holidays. Totally understandable.

All the Weekdays are a worry to you since the weekend is at the end of your week.

No wonder people are craving for a 4 day week. Wednesday will be worth to have holidays for people like you.


Monday, March 4, 2019

My Computer Lecturer- From My Journal

Just got out of intermediate and we're enrolled in this engineering course. Professional course.

Of all the faculties, we're well respected by CSE faculty. With utmost respect, she addresses each one of us, our favourite professor, Sravani Mam.

It's so heartening to see her after long time. She taught us Computer course in our 1st year and we never attended her classes in regular.

Whole class adores her for the respect she gives. I remember one of the classes where I got in during the middle of it. I was taken by seniors for ragging. When I entered, she asked, If I belong to this class.
I said, "yes"

"à°“à°¹్ à°®ీà°°ేà°¨ా  à°°ాà°—్à°—ింà°—్ à°¬ాà°§ిà°¤ుà°²ు. à°°ంà°¡ి " (Oh! You're the ragging victim. Please enter. ) (Sarcasm Included)

Good Memories. 

Gratitude Tales


April 2016

I graduated in Engineering course and it took me a long time to realize that I can't attend college anymore. Before I could realize the end of my college days properly, my college got ended. I was not concentrating on things I gotta do and fooled around procastinating a lot of things. 



Shreya once said, "You don't want to do the things you have to and you want to do the things that are over." Her words stunned me to introspect myself. 

I acted on those words and did what I wanted to do. Moved to Bangalore for a quite good amount of time. 

That break was much needed to reassess things in my life. And I returned to Hyderabad on February 17.

I started working at Hyderabad and stayed in touch with everyone possible. 2 years passed with a lot of various things happening in life. Just before I was trying out for various things during the last months of 2018, Shreya helped me again by her company and words.

Just like the words,"you cannot see your own ears. You cannot see the full picture if you're in the picture," Shreya helped me in finding the full picture. 

It was a coincidence that I shared her about my application right after her return from Rajasthan. 

Shreya, in between photobombing the picture

She didn't judge. She didn't discourage. She helped me to understand what I'm taking up. 

Right after the exam, interview, phone interview and also till the shortlisting, she listened to my rambling, gave me a sense of whole understanding of what I'm signing up for. 

I sought her help to understand things better. I still can't realize that I'm leaving my comfort zone on a big scale. Her time and words assure me of a great company. One of the friends whom I can always count on for help.  Thanks a lot, Shreya.

Why we reached here at the first place.

https://www.theminimalists.com/techochamber/


Good read on how we should welcome others in social media rather than build walls and be extreme in ideologies. 

Peer Pressure is not all that hard

A group of friends gathered to celebrate 1 year at the workplace. Alcohol is of a social drink as soon as you grow up. God knows why!

Of the large group, none bothered who drank and who didn't. But, again to be social, a few encouraged few to drink. One resisted from drinking. One waited for the policing. Everyone waited for other's nod to raise the glass. 

It all started with a sip. One girl said, "no," on being offered. Firm about her decision. Untill her friend wanted to try.

Her friend picked up the glass saying," just want to try."

Looking at her friend, no words, no hard insisting. Just a smile. Just a wrong affirmation. The other friend waited for one more nod. Silence prevailed and she got back, "Okay, I'll also try." and she gulped the glass.

Peer pressure is never because of only peers but also your inhibition. Afraid of being marred in obscurity, many try to stick with whatever their friends do.

Many are my friends who started by, "Just once" and ended up slogging jugs of beer all the time.

Not at all against alcohol but against people who try out due to peer pressure. If you think, you want to try out. If you decide to check it out. Well, respect your decision. But, if you're trying out, not to lose out friends or not to lose out from the cool circle. You're in  a wrong place.


Corporate Lessons-1

ASK. 

Ask for what's there. 
Seek for all the possibilities.
Knock the door to know what's in there for you.

Ask

Soon after I joined the organization, I asked people about various possibilities I can do in it. It's a vast organization. I believed that anything can be possible at any time. I was put under Mainframe Training. I've no knowledge of either mainframes or the languages. But, still, I never stopped asking people about various options in the organization. 

I never hated the course but never liked it as well. Thanks to many friends, I got onto the course and meanwhile, asked for various alternatives.

Seek

During the course, I sought out various possibilities of learning. Not on par with Mainframes but on various modules. We had English Communication course. I've engaged in the course at various levels. Participated in various competitions, tried out various modules. Failed in a pathetic way but, I had a great time. Thanks to Panchami, Romona who always encouraged for all the interactions. I participated in Teamwork courses, Weave a story competition and impromptu emceeing. I loved communicating. I loved interactions. Following my interests, I sought out the possibilities and enjoyed my time at TCS doing whatever I wish for.

Thanks to all the interactions I had with various friends, we ended up playing Mafia Game. Panchami & Romoana were good players. During all the free time, we played and played the game. Many memories were made during the games.

The result of this seeking possibilities trait gained me an invitation to host a storytelling session at the end of our course. Perfect end to my training. Had a great time sharing a few stories


Knock.

At the end of the training, I knew I haven't mastered in any coding course. I do not want to end up anywhere in the place I don't like. Clueless of any mentoring, I asked my trainer for advice and shared my interest. Took a few suggestions from him. And kept trying to strike a conversation with management for right advice and mentoring. 

HR Head, was right there whom I believed, would help me out by advice.  I went in shared my situation. Not really good at all the learning I had during the training, I shared what I'm good at.  Shared all the stories, right from how I joined TCS to, how I got through the whole training. 



She said, "we don't expect you to be masters of all the coding but, make sure you're having the learning mindset to work with people across functions and various other modules."


And my HR taught how organizations work. Listening to my experiences, she referred me to Project Management Operations Lead role for the new project headed by my Training Head. 


If not for these traits, I'd have never ended up wherever I am. 









Never feel inhibited to say, "I don't know"

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Quote of the hour

"One thing a poet learns is that there is no such thing as a synonym. Each word has irrepressible individuality."

                                           - Judson Jerome

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Gratitude Tales- Change is the constant

 Woke up to sunshine gleaming through the door.

8.03 am and it's the last day at my room. There were many last days at various houses & rooms yet, I never had the sense of missing a room or place. 

I do not get it. I cannot articulate what it means to miss a person or a place. Woke up and worked to pack all the stuff I could. Time struck 10 and I'm on my way to visit Harry's home.

I may not see him for a long time.  But I do feel or miss the time. Am I sure about missing it? I do not know.

We met and started talking as ever. Talked all the stuff that happened. Talked about movies, Rahul Ramakrishna, Hampi Trip.

Harry shared his pictures. Quite a happy retreat. Saw Appupen and a lot more other peoples' stories. 

Shreya joined us. 

Hopping on to the car, Anjali, Shreya and myself went out and played game while on our commute. Word building, specific to brand names, specific to letter, "S"

Shreya drops me home. I still couldn't believe that I may not see her as I do in normal times. I still can't feel that change in my life. 

I make it normal until the end because that's how my life has been. 


Art- Empty Spaces-Flow

The abstract of the exhibition is out.  https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/communications/events/empty-spaces-flow-art-exhibition-abhinay-renny